Erikson (week 3) Flashcards
Background
- Eric Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud.
- Born 1902 died 1994 when South Africa became free
- Parents left Denmark for Germany where he was born, and his parents separated.
- When he was 3 his mother remarried a German-Jewish man Theodor Homburger; Erikson only discovered later that Homburger was not his biological father. When leit school he traveled on foot across Europe, and trained in a number of art schools
- While he was studying in Vienna and teaching part-time at the school for Americans he encountered some of Freuds followers and then went analysis under Anna Freud and became interested in childhood development
- At around 31, because of the anti-Semitic activities of the Nazis, he left with his wife Joan for America where he opened a private practice as a child psychoanalyst in Boston
- His first major publication, Childhood and Society, came out in 1950.
- Although a follower Freud, and always at pains to emphasis similarities between them, Erikson is what is called an ego psychology and believed development continues throughout life
1. Ego psychology: puts emphasis on the ego as independent of the id and superego than SF allowed
2. consider its integrative role of biological and psychosocial forces in personality - The events in Erikson’s early life may have contributed to his great interest in identity and identity crisis
- The events in Erikson’s early life may have contributed to his great interest in identity and identity crisis
identity
Why you need to have a proper adolescence
Identity: a person’s image of her/him/self/themselves
Identity crisis: a period of uncertainty and confusion in which the once stable sense of identity becomes insecure, die to a change in their unexpected role in society as well as the striving to mould alternative behaviours and different experiences into a solid identity
Erik Erikson realised his father wasn’t his father and travels to find himself
The development of personality
The 8 stages of development, acc to EE
The view of the person
* person has variety of needs, potentials, possibilities that are accepted and supported by society
* Personality development is a life-long evolution according to epigenetic principle
* Epigenetic principles is defined as the individual characteristic emerge as certain ages in a determined sequential order
* Note: Epigenetic is the study of how behaviours and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes are expressed).
Erikson: the relationship between the individual and society is complementary (not conflict)
Erikson’s view of the person is more
compatible with the views of humanistic psychologists such as Rogers and Maslow
than with Freud’s psychoanalytic view.
The basic motive of human beings is:
to develop their inherent potential
* to know and accept themselves and their possibilities
* to know that they can feel at home with these characteristics and potentialities in their social environment.
Although individuals may not be aware of it, this underlying basic motive manifests
itself in automatic and lifelong progression from one stage to the next. It also manifests
itself in lifelong efforts to know oneself and to achieve congruence between one’s
self-image and the social aspects of one’s life (such as membership of groups and
acceptance by others).
The structure of personality
- does not speak much about structures, structures play lesser role in his theory
- but like freud accepts that personality includes an executive agent (ego) and the 2 others (id, superego)
- They differ in that the structural concepts play a much lesser role in Erikson’s theory than in
Freud’s. Although Erikson sometimes uses the terms id, superego and ego, he does
so mostly when recounting Freud’s thinking in an historical context - Erikson does not offer such clear distinctions.
Rather than treating the id, the superego and the ego as three parts of the personality,
he simply distinguishes between the drive element (id), the moral element (superego)
and the planning and executive element (ego), of the overall functioning of the person.
Erikson, furthermore, does not draw a sharp distinction between the person and the
social environment but describes them as being intertwined - The ego, according to Erikson, is that aspect of the personality that makes co-ordinated
and planned functioning possible - Erikson emphasised the social and cultural development of the ego
and the development of ego strengths - ego develops throughout life, governed by a genetically determined ground
plan (the epigenetic principle) which causes certain characteristics of the ego to come
to the fore in a predetermined sequence - Through the continuous interaction between individual
and social environment, the individual experiences a series of so-called crises, points
at which the ego must make choices about its future development - an agent that chooses among
different developmental possibilities and tries to find solutions for developmental
crises in a creative way - When development is progressing successfully, the ego
acquires characteristics (ego strengths) such as hope, will-power, trustworthiness
and the ability to love and care. - the ego is not isolated and guards individuality and is the inner agency
Dynamics of personality motivation
- seldom uses motivational or dynamic concept
- What he does say about the motivation of behaviour and human functioning is interwoven with his explanation of the developmental process
- He rather sees behaviour as the outcome of broad inherent developmental
tendencies and behaviour patterns which are transformed into specific personality
traits through interaction with the social environment - main thing: striving for identity
The basic principles of development
- According to Erikson, individual development is the result of two simultaneous
and complex influences, namely genetic and social factors - Genetic factors determine development through the manifestation of characteristics
that develop according to a genetically determined ground plan. He explains this plan
by means of the epigenetic principle, a concept that he derives from biology. According
to this principle, the individual’s characteristics (including potentials and needs)
emerge at certain ages and in a particular, genetically determined sequence, but
in such a way that the person constantly develops as a whole. epigenetic principle is valid for all aspects of development,
including behaviour and personality attributes. This means that each personality
characteristic is continually developing even though the development may not be
evident at a specific age, and each trait must change constantly because of the
changes in other parts and traits of the personality - Social influences are present, in that society makes certain demands on the
individual and at the same time offers certain opportunities for growth. These
demands and opportunities are in accordance with, and are complementary to, the
developmental potential and needs of the individual at each stage of development.
For example, society expects six-year-old children to start acquiring certain skills,
and simultaneously gives them the opportunity to do so through schooling
Developmental crises
- Each developmental stage is characterised by what Erikson calls a developmental
crisis arising from the interaction between genetic development and social influences.
The needs, possibilities, expectations and opportunities which emerge in each stage
invariably demand a choice between two opposing developmental possibilities - The developmental possibilities should not be seen as mutually exclusive opposites but
as complementary opposites. The ideal solution to each developmental crisis is therefore
found in a healthy balance between the two extreme possibilities. According to
Erikson, an ego strength (also known as psychosocial strength, basic strength, ego virtues
or developmental gain) emanates from the solution of each developmental crisis. Ego
strengths can generally be regarded as the positive personality traits that humanity
can develop as a species - Erikson describes ego strengths as those characteristics that qualify and prepare
individuals for their roles in the generation cycle, that is the development of society
from generation to generation (Erikson, 1982:55). For example, the ego strength
which flows from the developmental crisis trust versus mistrust is the quality of hope,
which is a necessary trait for the continued existence and progress of any culture. The
same is true of all the ego strengths: society benefits when its members possess them - solution to a developmental crisis is not achieved
by excluding one of the opposites, nor merely by some form of compromise
between the two. It is attained through a synthesis that includes both opposites,
although the positive pole always seems to carry more weight than the negative.
This synthesis (ego strength) thereby enables the individual to advance to a higher
level of development
The development of personality: other things to interest
Basics
Developmental crisis
Modes
Rituals
Modes
Mode of incorporation:
Mode of expulsion
Mode of inclusion and intrusion
Mode of incorporation
predominates during the
first year of life. The dominant bodily zone is the mouth, and in this respect the
stage corresponds with Freud’s oral stage. While Freud places the emphasis squarely
on the psychosexual aspect of the baby’s oral behaviour, Erikson’s interpretation
is much broader.
The organ mode ‘incorporation of food’ is therefore the
prototype for the psychosocial modality of incorporation. All forms of incorporative
behaviour, such as receiving and ‘taking’ with the hands, eyes, mind and emotions,
follow the pattern of food intake. The attitudes and feelings that the infant learns
to associate with incorporative behaviour during the first year of life therefore have
a great influence on all later incorporative functions.
The developmental crisis of the first stage (basic trust versus mistrust) implies
that infants must decide, on the basis of experience, how far they can trust their
environment to provide them with whatever they need to satisfy the demands
of their incorporative behaviour. This implies not only their need for food, but
anything else they can ‘get’ with their eyes, hands or intellect. In this way the
psychosocial modality of incorporation, together with the way the child solves the
crisis of trust versus mistrust, determines much of his or her lifelong functioning.
It will determine the nature of their contact with the physical environment, their
interaction with people, their views of the world and their attitudes towards
knowledge and cognitive functioning.
Mode of expulsion
During the second year of life the expulsion mode emerges, which initially is linked
to the anal body zone. Once again, despite some similarities with Freud’s anal stage,
Erikson’s view is broader. He describes how children acquire a degree of muscle
control that enables them to exert more control over their own lives than before.
The acquisition of socially acceptable toilet habits, together with the required
muscle control, provide children with the first and clearest proof of their newly
discovered abilities. The anal functions (that is, the organ modes) of excretion and
retention of excreta become the prototypes for a variety of psychosocial modalities.
The modality of holding on or letting go is connected with holding on to things
and people, with protection, with holding on to something against others’ wishes in
order to dominate them, with letting things happen passively and with unleashing
destructive forces onto the world (Erikson, 1982:36).
The implication here is that the way children learn to control their muscles during
their second year, and the attitudes and feelings they learn to associate with that
control, all exert a great influence on various forms of behaviour.
Mode of inclusion and intrusion
From third to the fifth year, that is, the period that Freud connects with the sexual
organs and especially the phallus, is characterised by the modes of inclusion and
intrusion.
Although the sexual organs are extremely important body zones in this phase,
these organ modes have a much wider foundation, namely the child’s increasing ability to move and co-ordinate movements. Children can now take far more
initiative than before and can therefore ‘make’ and ‘do’ much more than they could
previously (Erikson, 1982:37). They therefore also have more opportunity to do
things that are against social rules and that can arouse feelings of guilt.
The associated psychosocial modalities are aggressive forms of intrusion and the
passive form of inclusion
Erikson points out that both modes of behaviour appear in boys and girls and that
cultural factors determine whether the aggressive mode is more evident in boys
and the passive mode more prominent in girls (Erikson, 1963; 1982). These modes
are prototypes for various forms of social behaviour such as interpersonal relations
and sexual behaviour.
Rituals
- pattern of actions that is repeated at every stage is more or less the same way
- instinctive to particular animal species and
that they also have an instinctive foundation in humans. The rituals that can be
observed in human behaviour, however, are determined mainly by culture
and often have a playful character. For this reason he calls them ritualisations.
Ritualisation allows people to express their feelings and urges in an
acceptable way, and provides them with some degree of security in a
continually changing world
explain 8 stages of development
each stage has a developmental crisis as a nucleus, and that development is governed
by the epigenetic principle. This implies that each developmental crisis emerges
at genetically determined ages and in a fixed sequence, and must be worked
through afresh during each stage in terms of the individual’s total development at
that point.
The holistic character of development has two important implications. Firstly,
unsuccessful resolution of a crisis at any stage complicates the handling of ensuing
crises, while successful resolution makes it easier to deal with later crises. Secondly,
an individual who has not satisfactorily resolved the crisis of one stage always has
the opportunity to do so at a later stage. In this way Erikson makes provision for
the spontaneous recovery of developmental problems, and gives his theory as a
whole a much more optimistic tone than Freud’s
what are the 8 stages of development
Infancy: Basic trust vs mistrust
Early childhood: autonomy vs shame and doubt
The play age: initiative vs guilt
The school age: industry vs inferiority
Adolescence: identity vs role of confusion
Early adulthood: intimacy vs isolation
Adulthood: generativity vs self-obsession and stagnation
Maturity: ego integrity vs despair
Infancy: Basic trust vs mistrust
- ego strength: Hope
- organ mode of the mouth and the intake of food, which forms the basis of the
psychosocial modality of incorporation - The successful resolution of the crisis of this stage is children’s acquisition of a healthy
trust in the world and themselves: faith that their environment will satisfy their needs
for food, love and attention and also that they are able to satisfy their needs within their
cultural environment. However, healthy trust is not naive or blind, but is tempered
with a degree of distrust, which leads to caution. Erikson calls this ego strength hope - positive outcomes: feeling of inner goodness
- outcomes: sense of badness
Early childhood: autonomy vs shame and doubt
- ego strength: will-power
- prototypical organ mode of this stage is the anal functions of retention and excretion
- Children should be allowed to exercise autonomy, but not too much should be expected
of them because too many failures will induce shame and doubt about their abilities. - positive outcome: self-control
- negative outcome: self-conscious shame
The play age: initiative vs guilt
- ego strength: purpose
age 3-6 - prototypical organ mode of this stage is the child’s
increasing independence of movement and the eroticisation of the genitals. What
emerge are the psychosocial modalities of intrusion and inclusion - Children at this stage
can act on their own initiative, and can therefore feel guilty about their behaviour. - The danger of this stage is that the conscience will
develop too strictly or in a moralistic way. The ideal resolution of the crisis lies in
finding a balance between the childlike enthusiasm for doing and making things and
the tendency to be too strict in self-judgement. Erikson calls this ego strength purpose. - positive outcome: pleasure in accomplishments
- negative outcome: guilt over goals, contemplated
4 . The school age: industry vs inferiority
- ego strength: competence
- age 6-12
- They develop a sense of industry, learn to handle the tools of their culture and become keen
collaborators in any productive process. Society meets these tendencies of children
by creating opportunities for learning and co-operation. - The danger of this stage is that children may fail to acquire the skills and tools of their
culture, which causes feelings of inferiority to develop. A healthy balance is reached
through the ego strength of competence, in other words, the development of a sense of
proficiency or competence, which is one of the conditions for participating successfully
in the cultural processes of productivity and, later, to be able to maintain a family. - positive outcome: pride in completed work
- negative outcome: sense of inadequacy
Adolescence: identity vs role of confusion
- ego strength: reliability
- puberty (12) -early maturity (18-25)
- The physical changes of puberty, the onset of sexual maturity and the social expectation
that adolescents have to make a career choice, all force the individual to re-examine
earlier certainties. - Erikson calls this quest for a self-image continuity in life and congruence between
the self-image and the role expectations of society, the search for identity. - The quest for identity often causes adolescents to
clash with the rules of society and with persons who are close to them. The danger
of this stage is that they may become confused in their search for identity and a
suitable social role. Erikson explains typical adolescent behaviour patterns, such
as participation in group activities, falling in love and the predilection for youth
movements, as part of the search for identity - The ego strength that results from a satisfactory resolution of the identity crisis,
Erikson calls reliability or fidelity. This ego strength is characterised by certainty
about one’s own identity, an accepting awareness of other possible identity choices
which the individual could have made, and a capacity for loyalty towards one’s
social role or roles - positive outcome: confidence about inner continuity
- negative outcome: sense of artificially
Early adulthood: intimacy vs isolation
- love
- The achievement of ego identity, which is usually reached in early adulthood, enables
individuals to share their identity with another person, that is, to have ongoing
relationships and to develop the ethical strength to continue the relationships
despite the sacrifices and compromises they might demand - The evasion of such experiences is the result of identity confusion, which flows from failure
during the previous stage, and leads to a feeling of isolation and preoccupation
with the self. Young adults find themselves in the crisis of having to choose between
the two extremes - Resolution of this crisis leads to the ego strength of love or true genitality, which
Erikson defines as follows (1963:266):
In order to be of lasting social significance, the utopia of genitality should include: - mutuality of orgasm
- with a loved partner
- of the other sex
- with whom one is able and willing to share mutual trust
- and with whom one is able and willing to regulate cycles of work, procreation
and recreation - so as to secure for the offspring, too, all the stages of a satisfactory development.
The synthesis between intimacy and isolation – the attainment of true love – leads
directly to the next stage.
- positive outcome: mutuality
- negative outcome: superficial relations
Adulthood: generativity vs self-obsession and stagnation
- ego strength: care
- 25 to 65 years of age
- adults need to feel that people
need them and that this need finds expression in wanting to care for other people,
and in wanting to pass on knowledge and traditions to them. If this need is not met,
a feeling of stagnation and an obsession with the self develops: individuals treat
themselves as if they were their own only child - The inability
of adults to develop a sense of generativity is often the result of unresolved crises in
early childhood, specifically a lack of trust in society and in the future of humanity - ability to flow
- loss of work/ interest in work
Maturity: ego integrity vs despair
- ego strength: wisdom
- 60 and 70 years of age
- At this stage people
look back on their lives knowing that the end is near. It is precisely this finality that
looms that generates the crisis of this stage - individuals who have successfully resolved the previous crises
of their lives are able to accept themselves and others fully (ego integrity) - People who have not successfully
dealt with previous crises, however, are unable to feel satisfied and feel despair
instead, characterised by a fear of death and the desire to live their lives over again - sense of meaning
- bitter about life
Optimal development
- Erikson’s perception of optimal development flows directly from his view of
development throughout the lifespan. According to him, an optimally developed
person could simply be described as someone who has successfully resolved the
developmental crisis of each stage and who therefore possesses all the ego strengths - Erikson describes development as
occurring according to the epigenetic principle and in a holistic manner. This
means not only that development takes place sequentially, but also that each crisis
has to be worked through afresh at each stage. This implies, further, that one can
talk of optimal development during each stage. - Finally, optimal development for Erikson implies a kind of fundamental unity
between the individual and society. This implication is evident from his description
of the positive aspects of the different stages. All the ego strengths and other positive
attributes that flow from the various stages include a relationship of one kind or
another with specific people or with society as a whole. Each positive trait not only has meaning for the individual; it is also there for the
good of the entire society.
